As a Prevention specialist, my job is to have meaningful and engaging conversations with youth about subjects that can often feeling awkward, daunting, or complicated: touches, feelings, bodies, and more! Luckily, we have lots of tools to help us out, from books to activities and videos. In this list, I will talk about a few of my favorites, the lessons they teach, how I use them, and ways you can use them, too! Let’s continue with a book SARCC uses in our Care for Kids Programs!
On Monday When it Rained by Cherryl Kachenmeister – This simple picture book introduces several words to help children describe their feelings. On each page, the child describes what happened that day—for example, it rained and they were unable to ride their new bike—followed by a page that shows their face and states how they feel—in this case, disappointed. This format allows children to connect ‘feelings words’ with visual cues like facial expressions. To check understanding and build on the conversation, you might ask them to share a time they felt like the child in the story on each day. Or you might choose to read this book as a ‘guessing game’, where you read the situation, show your child the facial expression, and ask to guess what he is feeling. This helps build their social awareness with others!
Virtual Read-Along: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lewuNQ0DQ4
Purchase the book: On Monday When it Rained
This book is used in the ‘Feelings’ lesson of Care for Kids. See our previous library post for more information about this program!
